In high volume engine assembly it may be desirable to have ducts and hoses arrive for final attachment with hose clamps pre-positioned in the desired location and orientation on the hoses. In this way, production time may be used most effectively when workers are ready to tighten the clamps in place. However, the clamps may get bumped, and/or may catch on other edges or parts, during shipping, or production. This may result in the clamps moving or pulling off of the hoses creating production delays, and/or other undesirable consequences.
Attempts have been made to provide hose clamps that are more apt to stay in place. For example U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,739 provides a clamp retention device for positioning and retaining a hose clamp on a hose to ready the clamp to be closed onto mating components. The device has a retainer and a locator spaced axially from the retainer in a side-by-side relationship. The locator is adapted to hold the clamp while the retainer is adapted to engage the hose to maintain the device in position on the hose.
The inventors herein have identified a number of issues with this approach. For example, when in place on the hose, for example, during shipping, or handling, the disclosed device may snag, or catch on other parts. In additional, while the disclosed locator may tend to hold the device in place, if sufficiently bumped and mis-oriented, the locator may tend to make the clamp difficult to reorient properly.
Embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure may provide a hose having a hose body. An end segment of the hose body may be foldable over a clamp seat area of the hose body. There may be an opening in the end segment sized and shaped to provide access to the clamp seat area. A clamp may be disposed over the clamp seat area, and the clamp may have a clamp adjustment mechanism used to adjust a tightness of the clamp accessible via the opening.
In this way, the clamp may be at least partially protected by at least part of the end segment and may thus be less prone to being contacted by other nearby or adjacent objects such as other hoses, or clamps, or other objects that may be present in a storage or assembly environment, or the like. For example, the passages may be more likely to arrive at their respective factory assembly stations with the hose clamps disposed over the hose in the proper location and/or orientation.
Certain embodiments may provide a hose having a hose body, and one or more clamp retention features integrally formed into the hose body to retain a clamp from movement relative to the hose body beyond a predetermined amount of movement. In this way, the hose may be efficiently shaped to receive a clamp and to the hold the clamp in a proper location and/or orientation for ready and rapid use in a factory environment, and the like.
Some embodiments may provide a system that may include a flexible engine passage and a clamp arrangement. The system may also include a passage body and a clamp positioned over a portion of the passage body. The clamp may have a clamp adjustment mechanism to adjust a tightness of the clamp. An end segment of the passage body may be foldable over the clamp. The end segment may have an opening providing access to the clamp adjustment mechanism when the end segment is in a folded state. In this way certain operation in, for example, a factory environment may be made more effective.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.
FIGS. 2-8 are drawn approximately to scale, although other relative dimensions may be used if desired. Further, the figures show various components and relative sizes to one another, one or more of which may be advantageous in enabling the hose clamp arrangement described herein to function effectively.